A sound from heaven!
“Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.” (Acts 2:2)
I’m not content with a “sound from earth”- I want to hear “a sound from heaven”. If the early church had never heard that sound I wonder where we’d be today? I’m not talking about some of the weird stuff going on today that passes for a sound from heaven. I don’t recall reading that the early church barked liked dogs, rolled around the floor in uncontrollable laughter, had gold dust falling from the sky or anything like that. What I’m talking about has nothing to do with this sort of thing at all- I’m not interested in going to revival meetings where men prance around and make big shows of the “power of God”, creating a spectacle of themselves and the church. But I do want to hear a sound from heaven…
Jesus speaks from, and of, eternity- and that is what we so desperately need today.
You can take the supernatural circus, I don’t want it. You can take the coffeehouse “cultural faith”-I’m really not interested in that either. I’m tired of hearing about a “social gospel”, a “cultural gospel”, and that we’re here to “create beauty” through the arts and on the earth. Whatever happened to the eternal gospel? Can someone please tell me about heaven, hell, sin and redemption? Who will stand up to preach the cross, tell of Jesus’ blood, and preach to win souls? Will someone please give me that gospel- the one I see saints laying down their lives for in the Book of Acts?
I honestly feel sorry for those who are seeking God and have to wade through the mess of Christian blogs and churches that offer up this pathetic, watered down, twisted mess! Oh, I know there are some who still faithfully preach the cross and are focused on eternity… but I remember a time before there were hundreds of thousands of blogs with everyone’s religious opinions; a time when the world was a much easier place to navigate. There has always been bad doctrine, but there’s never been an explosion like what we’re seeing today of confusion and doctrinal error. We can thank the internet for that- it was the perfect vehicle to usher in every unbiblical belief under the sun and spread it around the earth. It has given a voice to people who probably never should have been speaking in the first place because they were never called by God to do so.
In the bible men were actually “called by God” to speak and act as God directed- they were sent out by Him, and anointed by the Holy Spirit. I’m not sure many Christians worry about that today, we just all assume we should speak our mind. And that’s the problem… I’m tired of hearing the sound of people speaking their minds- I want to hear a sound from heaven! I want to hear from those who are called, who speak by the Holy Spirit and cause us to focus on eternal things.
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
The man who hears a sound from heaven, who hears Jesus, speaks of eternal things. There’s a famine of the Word of God today, a famine of hearing from heaven, and because of that, not many people are talking about eternity. Are we so focused on earthly things simply because we’ve never had a revelation of the glories of eternity? Have we heard “a sound from heaven”, or are we just parroting the world we live in? The Christian’s focus isn’t to be about earthly things!
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1-4)
See, it’s not about the arts, it’s not about Christian music, it’s not about Christians getting involved in politics, it’s not about social justice, it’s not about some culturally driven faith, it’s not about a prosperity gospel where God makes us all rich, it’s not about gold dust and holy laughter… it’s not about all this stuff and so many more of the things we’ve been told it’s about. This world is passing away along with all the things we think are so important. I’m really tired of sitting in a church (like I did a couple weeks ago) and being told that we should be focusing on this earth. I don’t appreciate being told that D.L. Moody got it wrong with his notion that this world was a sinking ship, and that we needed to get as many saved as we could before it went under. Wrong? Moody got that wrong?? God help us-We need an army of Moody’s! We are in a desperate hour when the ship is sinking and the Captains of the ship are out taking the world for a pleasure cruise! We should be on a rescue mission but we’re out “creating beauty”. Moody said, “You don’t polish the brass of a sinking ship”. If we could only see what Moody saw- this world is passing away. He heard a sound from heaven, saw the sinking ship, and tried to bring as many as he could to the safety of eternity in Jesus Christ while they still had a chance to be saved.
Twenty-six years ago, when I was just turning 24, I also heard a sound from heaven. I heard the Spirit say, “You can be born again!” I got a glimpse of eternity and saw the world (and myself) for what it was- dead in sin and without God. I grabbed hold of Jesus with everything I had, and as I looked into His face I began to be changed from one degree of glory to another. The thing I’d been looking for my whole life was Jesus! Like the old hymn says,
“Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.”
Do we see what we’re doing today in the church? Do we understand where this embracing of the world system is taking us? Does Jesus really want your eyes off of Him and off of heaven? Does He want you “polishing the brass” of this sinking ship, or looking to eternity?
“For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.” (Hebrews 13:14)
I hope I will stir some of you to think about this. Read your bible and ask yourself honestly what the focus of the early church was on. Read Acts and ask yourself if you’re focused on eternity like that? Are you wanting to reach the lost like they were? Has it dawned on you and alarmed you that this world is quickly passing away? Does eternity fill your vision? Maybe it’s time to sit in your upper room, read your bible, pray, and wait on God until you hear a sound from heaven!
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